Old Photographs
by FlyingPigMonkey
Summary: One-Shot. ' "Was my father gay?" Taken back by the boldness, Harry fought to keep eye contact as he answered as truthfully as he could. "I don't know." ' Written for the Prompt Relay Challenge.


This is one of many submissions to the Prompt Relay Challenge in the Harry Potter Fanfiction Challenges forum. For those not familiar with the challenge, there are ten stages we have to write for, each state having anywhere from five to twenty-plus story prompts we must fill.

Stage Six: Next-Gen Era

* * *

Shifting through the oversized trunk, Teddy could almost feel his father sitting on the floor next to him. He had grown up listening to all the stories about what a great man Remus Lupin had been, what a trouble maker he could be as a teen, how everyone knew what an amazing father he would have been if given the chance. However actually holding his father's old stuff was completely different. There was no bias, no fog of opinion or affection twisting history. He could actually _feel _what sort of man Remus was in his younger years.

It almost felt taboo, like he his father could come into the room at any moment and scold him for snooping._ But he won't, _the fifteen year old had to remind himself. _He's dead._

This trunk, the third so far he had searched during his summer break, looked to have been from his father's days at Hogwarts. Old school robes neatly folded along with stacks of class notes and well worn text books surrounded Teddy as he tried to neatly stack things that looked relevant to one another. He couldn't believe how many subjects his father had taken, excelling in each one from what he had heard. It was like he was obsessed with proving his worth. If he didn't know any better, Teddy would have thought the man had no life outside these old tomes.

Stories of the gang of friends who called themselves the Marauders were often the response when he asked about his father. Looking though his belongings though he could hardly believe them as he often wondered how Remus would have had the time. An all star student, prefect duties, one quarter of the popular quartet, and all on top of his monthly transformations. Teddy couldn't understand how anyone would have the strength to do it all.

Finally getting all the robes and textbooks out of the trunk, Teddy could almost see the bottom. A thin layer of old photographs spread across his vision. Picking up each one carefully, he examined the moving figures he instantly knew for the many stories. Many included a tall lanky teen with sandy hair with various other students, _Dad and the Marauders_. A young man who looked to be the spitting image of his god father doting on a red headed witch, a short pudgy boy who seemed completely out of place, an aristocratic looking young man with long black hair almost always with a cigarette hanging from his lips, and several young women in Gryffindor robes with the red head.

One picture, however, stood out from the rest. The two boys pictured looked to be about Teddy's age, sitting under a tree with the Black Lake in the background. His father and the boy Teddy knew to be a young Sirius Black sat very close to one another, Sirius almost leaning into Remus' shoulder as the werewolf's arm circled around his friend's waist. Both young men smiled toward the camera, looking happier than when pictured anywhere else. Every few moments, the boys would turn slightly to look at each other, adoration clearly sparkling in their eyes.

Studying the warn picture, a story that Teddy had never heard stared right back up at him; a story that he needed to know. Standing up quickly and jumping over the piles he had made, the teen ran out of the room he stayed in when visiting his god father.

* * *

"Harry!"

"Yes Teddy?" Harry called back when he heard the young man's voice coming down the stairs at Grimmwald Place while he fixed tea in the kitchen. After completing his seventh year at Hogwarts after the war, the young wizard took a much needed break and spent the better part of six months fully renovating the house that his own god father had left him. Finally a home, there were no longer boggarts in the cabinets or portraits that spewed hate. No more dark objects or dusty rugs. He could actually move in and bring people over without worry of what they could get into. Harry loved it, wishing he could show Sirius what he had done to the place.

Teddy burst through the door of the kitchen, a determined look fixed squarely on his face. He noticed something clenched in one of his hands. The young man came to a halt in front of the wizard, huffing slightly from running down the stairs. Looking up at his god father, however, the boy found himself wondering if this may have been a nest he did not want to poke. Hesitating, Teddy took a moment to gather the courage to actually ask the question he needed to know the answer to. "Harry, I need you to tell me the truth about my father."

Wondering what the boy could mean, Harry paused to think. He thought he had told him everything, at least everything he had any chance of figuring out. Everything of importance. Shrugging slightly, Harry replied, "I'm not sure I know what you mean."

Holding out the slightly crumpled picture, Teddy's eyes hardened slightly. "This."

Harry took the picture, quickly paling in response. _Oh bugger. _"Where did you find this?"

Teddy scoffed at the question, "In my father's old school trunk. When was anyone going to tell me? Why was kept from me?" The hurt clearly making its way into his voice, "I trusted you to tell me the truth about my dad!"

Taking a deep breath, Harry looked back up at his god son, the boy he had helped raise. _When had he grown up? _Harry swore it was only months ago he was changing the nappys, laughing at the ever changing hair colour of the baby that had been left in his care. "Teddy, look." He started, "I never meant to keep anything from you. I've always been truthful of every question you've ever asked me. It just never seemed appropriate to share your father's past dating experiences, I never wanted it to overshadow the importance of you mother."

Softening slightly, Teddy nodded in understanding. Turning away to sit at the long table, the teen motioned for Harry to join him, which he did quickly.

Pouring a cup of tea for each of them, Harry prepared for what would likely be a long discussion. "So what did you want to know?"

Refusing to look up from the table, Teddy quickly responded, "How long were they together?"

Sighing, wishing he knew more of the details, the wizard tried his best to answer. "I'm not sure. I know they started dating sometime in their fifth or sixth year at Hogwarts. They had a very on-again off-again type relationship, but I know at the time of my parent's death they were apart."

"And…and Dad loved Sirius?"

"Yes, very much. He was devastated when Sirius was sent to Azkaban." Harry took a step to settle his nerves. Hopefully the talk would continue on in this peace.

The boy thought for a moment before asking his next question. "Did they continue to see each other after Sirius got out?"

"I believe so." Harry thought back, trying to remember possible signs of the relationship that he may have seen. "But I don't think they were public about it. I don't remember anyone ever mentioning it, and they certainly didn't act like more than friends. The only way you could have known was to see the way they looked at each other, though I didn't know what it meant then."

Finally looking into the older wizards eyes, Teddy asked the question that had been burning in the back of his mind. "Was my father gay?"

Taken back by the boldness, Harry fought to keep eye contact as he answered as truthfully as he could. "I don't know." The crestfallen look that overcame the teen pushed him to reach out to take the boys hand in his, drawing back his attention. "What I do know is that you father loved your mother. He would not have married her if he didn't. Trust me when I say he didn't just settle after Sirius died." Clenching the hand to try to drive home his point, Harry continued. "Remus loved Tonks, and he loved you. You were a family."

Nodding, Teddy smiled through watery eyes. "Thank you for telling me."

Harry smiled back, "I only wish Remus could have been here to explain it to you himself."


End file.
